PASS: Banning, Beaumont girls learn about academic empowerment

Staff Sgt. Heidi Holquin talks about careers available in the Army during a math and science conference for girls Thursday, Jan. 10, at Mt. San Jacinto College. “In the Army, I have done everything I've wanted to do,” Holquin told them.

Speaker Amber Price told her audience of young girls on Thursday, Jan. 10, that she had grown up with a parent who was incarcerated and she was bullied at school.

There was a time when she wanted to leave this world, she told the 8th-graders at the American Association of University Women's annual Math and Science Conference at Mt. San Jacinto College.

âIâd forgotten my power,â Price said.

The Studio City resident, who became a documentarian and motivational speaker, told the girls they are the only ones stopping themselves from achieving their goals.

âYou have no idea how powerful you are,â Price said.

The 13th annual conference, put on by the Redlands branch of the American Association of University Women, drew about 300 girls from Banning and Beaumont.

The goal is to motivate the girls and inspire them to set goals â" to introduce them to women with careers related to math and science and to encourage the students to stay in school, said committee member Bessie Reece.

When college President Roger Schultz asked the girls if theyâve ever heard that boys are better at math and science, quite a few raised their hands.

Donât believe it, he said.

Price gave the keynote speech, âPower, Passion, and Pursuit â" Female Leadership in the 21st Century.â

âI thought it was really amazing and empowering, too,â said Edidiong Etokudo, 14, of Beaumont.

She is thinking about a career as a nurse or doctor.

After the talk, the girls attended career workshops on such topics as emergency medical service, animal service, forensic science, finance, nursing and nutrition.

In a classroom where the periodic table hung on one wall, Staff Sgt. Heidi Holquin talked about careers in the U.S. Army. The military trained her to be a medic and has sent her to Panama and Honduras, twice to Iraq and once to Afghanistan.

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